Improved wash-board



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN I. BABBITT, OF HAGKETTSTOVVN, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVED WASH-BOARD.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,046, dated January "i, 1862.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, STEPHEN I. BABBITT, of IIackettstown, in the county of Warren and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wash- Boards for I/Vashing Clothes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a detached face view of the rubber pertaining to my invention; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section of the whole device taken in the line 0c, Fig. 2; Fig. 3. a front View of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to an improvement in the ordinary wash-boarden which clothes are rubbed by hand;A and it consists in co1nbining with the wash-board a rubber so constructed and arranged as to supersede the direct use or application of the hands by greatly diminishing the labor of clothes washing, as well as expediting the work and causing it to .be performed in a thorough manner. The invention at the lsame time admits of the wash-board being used in the ordinary way.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will. proceed to describe it.

A represents a wash-board, which is constructed in the usual way, with the exception that the corrugated or iiuted rubbing-piece a is secured between the stiles or side pieces b l] at one side of their centers, so that the said side pieces will be flush or about iiush with the rubbing-piece a at one side, said side pieces at the opposite side of the rubbingpiece c forming ledges which project a considerable distance beyond the face of the rubbing-piece c, as showninFig. 2. The rubbing-piece a is corrugated or iuted transversely and at both sides, as shown in Fig. 2, and the lower part of each stile or side piece b is slotted longitudinally, as shown at c.

B represents a rubber, which is formed of a at piece of board equal in width to the wash-board and provided at its outer side with a handle C. The inner or face side of the rubber B is provided with a series of knobs orsemi-sphericalproj ections d, as shown clearly in Figs. l and 2.

To each side of the rubber B there is secured a metal bar or strip C. These bars or strips are of sligh tly-curved form, and they are provided at their lower ends with pins e e, which project at right angles from the bars or strips C, and are fitted in the slots c c of the stiles or side pieces b b. The outer surfaces of the stiles or side pieces b b serve as bearings for the rubber and prevent the knobs d from coming in contact with the rubbingpiece aand injuring the same when there are no clothes on a..

The rubber B is allowed to slide freely up and down on the wash-board, the pins c e. serving as guides.

The wash-board is placed in the tub and rests against the side thereof in an inclined position, as usual, and the clothes are subjected to the necessary rubbing by placing the rubber B, working it up and down over the clothes. The rubber takes the place of the hands, which ordinarily are directly applied in rubbing the clothes on the rubbingpece c. The rubber greatly reduces the labor of washing and performs the work much better and quicker than it can be done by the hands.

hands in the ordinary way in certain casesas, for instance, in Washing very fine articles-when a very slight rubbing is'required, the wash-board is turned so that the side of the rubbing-piece a., which is opposite to that over which the rubber B works, will be uppermost, as shown in Fig. 2, and an ordinary wash-board is then obtained, the rubber B being secured snugly to the wash-board bya hook or other fastening'.

This device may be constructed at a trifling advance in cost over the ordinary washboard, and will, it is believed, prove to be far more efficient.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

|The wash-board A, provided with a rubbing-piece a, corrugated or iiuted at both sides and fitted between the stiles or side pieces l) l), as shown, in combination with the rubber B, applied to the wash-board and pro vided with knobs or semi-spherical projections d, as and for the purpose set forth.

STEPHEN I. BABBITT.

Witnesses:

WM. S. RITTENHOUSE,4 JOSHUA H. CURTIS.

them on the rubbing-piece a and operating In case it should be required to use the 

